7 wells remain virtual death traps, Ambala district admn yet to act

Four persons, who died on Sunday included Lance Naik Manjeet Singh, his brother Shailender Singh and nephews Komal Kumar and Soni.
Incidentally, Ravi Kumar, who had saved a nine-year-old girl Mansi, who too fell into the same well in April 2016, did not succeed on Monday when his brothers Soni and Komal and uncles Manjeet and Shailender, too, went down the same well to save Sanju, but could not come back as they fell unconscious after inhaling some toxic gases. Ravi, the last one to enter the well filled with garbage and sewerage water, also fell unconscious but was eventually rescued by the police party that reached the village after being informed of the incident. Sanju too survived.

Mansi, now 11 and studying in Class VI at the village school, still recalls the horrific moment when she had fallen into the well while playing. “I was rescued with the help of a bucket fetched by Ravi uncle and his friends. I received minor injuries in the incident. Even after that, nobody covered this well,” Mansi told Chandigarh Newsline.

Parwinder Singh, a resident of Baknaur, said, “Two years ago also, this well was dry. It was filled with garbage. Thus, Mansi could be saved as Ravi dared to go down and fetch her up. But, over the last few months, villagers had started releasing sewerage water also into the same well. Around seven months ago, a stray dog too fell in the well and died. In 2005, our village panchayat got government grant to cover all these open wells, but the money was not spent on it.” Village Sarpanch Kimma Ram died two years ago.

Hardeep Saini, another villager, said, “A domestic buffalo calf fell into another uncovered well but the villagers rescued it.” All the seven wells are at the ground level only. A few, however, have a perimeter wall not higher than one feet.

Ambala Deputy Commissioner, Sharandeep Kaur Brar, said, “We have ordered a probe to find out the exact reasons behind this tragic incident. SDM (Ambala) Meenakshi Dahiya shall be conducting it. All the uncovered wells in the village will be covered shortly. We are examining the facts that when the grant was issued for covering the wells in the village and why it was not spent for this purpose. The district administration has decided to issue Rs 1 lakh compensation for each victim.”

One of the uncovered wells was found guarded with iron pillars, installed after an NRI, Baljeet Singh, gave money for it. Baljeet lives in USA, but his father Mewa Singh in Baknaur. “I have religious sentiments attached to this well, near my house. My son sent me the money to take care of the well. Although it is an open well, we have taken due precautions. We also constructed a perimeter wall of the well and made a seating platform for people,” Mewa told Newsline.

Baknaur village has a population of nearly two thousand people and around 1,300 registered voters. Devi Dass, father of victims Komal and Soni, said, “It’s extremely traumatic for me. Three years ago also, I lost three of my family members in a road accident and yesterday, I lost my two sons. I still thank God that at least Ravi survived.”

A mass funeral of four men who lost their lives on Sunday was attended by around one thousand people from several villages. Manjeet’s body was brought to the village crematorium by the Army personnel of 268 Engineer Regiment, Ambala, under the supervision of Captain V Mohit Kumar.